Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Bicycle Mechanics
Reload this Page >

Cup and cone versus cartridge BB

Notices
Bicycle Mechanics Broken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

Cup and cone versus cartridge BB

Old 07-19-19, 09:29 AM
  #26  
Bike Gremlin
Mostly harmless ™
 
Bike Gremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Novi Sad
Posts: 4,424

Bikes: Heavy, with friction shifters

Mentioned: 21 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1105 Post(s)
Liked 213 Times in 127 Posts
Originally Posted by cyccommute
I've heard lots of people make that complaint as well as complaining about Shimano Octalink and ISIS bottom brackets (not those guys but the International Spline Interface Standard). I've never had a problem with any cartridge bearing bottom bracket and seldom see a bad one at my local co-op. I see roughly 1500 bikes a year with all kinds of problems.
Bad bartridge bearing bottom brackets show up only a few times per year. They are so rare, in fact, that it's something to take note of.

I've had no end of wear issues with bottom brackets back before cartridge bearing bottom brackets. In the early days of mountain biking, I had to replace the bottom bracket very often and had to rebuild on a roughly 6 month schedule. Modern bikes...new ones from HelMart...that have loose bearing bottom brackets are a total waste of time and effort. The bearings wear to dust in about 200 miles. I see hemispherical bearings in those on a regular basis. The "steel" (SLO? steel like object) that is used for the cups is often so poorly constructed that the cup pulls apart as it's being extracted. I've had to tell several people that their bike is irreparable because the bottom bracket has started to separate and we can't get the cup out of the frame.

Nope. Got no love for loose bearing bottom brackets.
Same experience (and thoughts) about modern cup and cone BBs.

Though still have 1974 Shimano (Dura Ace?) with french threading - still looking good. Road bike though - not much mud (plenty of dust though).
Bike Gremlin is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 10:02 AM
  #27  
Numerozero
Senior Member
 
Numerozero's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Vancouver, eh
Posts: 107

Bikes: Downtube 8FH w/ TSD-Z2 motor; Xootr Swift w/DualDrive ; Downtube MiniB

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 45 Post(s)
Liked 34 Times in 15 Posts
This is Rivendell Bikes Grant Peterson's opinion:

"This style was and is still the simplest, strongest, most crap-and-bad adjustment tolerant style of bottom brackets. They’ll go on and on even bone dry, because the big ball bearings and the interface are a match made in heaven."... "This style of bottom bracket keeps working even when it’s been ravaged by cheapness, time, poor adjustment, and neglect. "... "Sealed cartridge bearing bottom brackets aren’t nearly as tolerant. The balls in the “sealed cartridge” are smaller than the balls in a cup-and-cone bottom bracket, and the weak part is the cartridge that holds them. If that breaks, the balls escape and go who knows where, but they don’t stay where they need to be between the cup and the cone race. I’ve seen this happen many times, even on super expensive bottom brackets. I’ve seen those bottom brackets fail in less than a year, even though they’re sold as lifetime bottom brackets."... "If I had to pick one bottom bracket for one bike for the rest of my life, it would be a high-quality cup and cone bottom bracket, for sure. "It took a couple of years for bicycle parts distributor Jim Porter (of Merry Sales) to persuade Tange to remake them. It took a couple more to get all the details right. We may be the only bicycle people in the country who is happy to see these back. They are beautiful bicycle parts, made without compromise or concession to trends, and it is unbelievable that we even have them, and doubtful that they’ll continue to be available (unless these become NOS in 10 years)."

https://www.rivbike.com/collections/...6klsej-lkangkn


Note: I am not taking any sides on this issue : )
Numerozero is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 10:07 AM
  #28  
Bike Gremlin
Mostly harmless ™
 
Bike Gremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Novi Sad
Posts: 4,424

Bikes: Heavy, with friction shifters

Mentioned: 21 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1105 Post(s)
Liked 213 Times in 127 Posts
Originally Posted by Numerozero
This is Rivendell Bikes Grant Peterson's opinion:

"This style was and is still the simplest, strongest, most crap-and-bad adjustment tolerant style of bottom brackets. They’ll go on and on even bone dry, because the big ball bearings and the interface are a match made in heaven."... "This style of bottom bracket keeps working even when it’s been ravaged by cheapness, time, poor adjustment, and neglect. "... "Sealed cartridge bearing bottom brackets aren’t nearly as tolerant. The balls in the “sealed cartridge” are smaller than the balls in a cup-and-cone bottom bracket, and the weak part is the cartridge that holds them. If that breaks, the balls escape and go who knows where, but they don’t stay where they need to be between the cup and the cone race. I’ve seen this happen many times, even on super expensive bottom brackets. I’ve seen those bottom brackets fail in less than a year, even though they’re sold as lifetime bottom brackets."... "If I had to pick one bottom bracket for one bike for the rest of my life, it would be a high-quality cup and cone bottom bracket, for sure. "It took a couple of years for bicycle parts distributor Jim Porter (of Merry Sales) to persuade Tange to remake them. It took a couple more to get all the details right. We may be the only bicycle people in the country who is happy to see these back. They are beautiful bicycle parts, made without compromise or concession to trends, and it is unbelievable that we even have them, and doubtful that they’ll continue to be available (unless these become NOS in 10 years)."

https://www.rivbike.com/collections/...6klsej-lkangkn


Note: I am not taking any sides on this issue : )
Shimano made square taper cartridge ones cost just over 10 euros here and they last both on my bikes and on bikes I install them on.
If it weren't the case, I'd consider cup and cone, but from my experience, Shimano cartridge ones are a "no brainer" - dirt cheap, maintenance free and very durable.

Hollowtech II ones, where bearing balls are larger, but placed on the outside, don't last nearly as long - start creaking from dirt relatively quickly and wear out a lot faster than square taper ones.
Bike Gremlin is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 10:26 AM
  #29  
dedhed
SE Wis
 
dedhed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 10,516

Bikes: '68 Raleigh Sprite, '02 Raleigh C500, '84 Raleigh Gran Prix, '91 Trek 400, 2013 Novara Randonee, 1990 Trek 970

Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2731 Post(s)
Liked 3,361 Times in 2,034 Posts
My limited observations

Cup & cone - yeah, I've had some that are junk. My 1968 Sprite is original that I greased and replaced balls in 5? years ago. Was it ever serviced before then? Who knows. Still fine
I've had plenty of bikes with cup & cone that got minimal service and were fine

Cartridge - One bike that I have that came with one failed after 2K? 3K? but it was a cheap chin-haur. UN 55 in there has thousands on it. Redid an old DB hybrid with a cartridge for a guy that used it for his winter beater. The bearings were literally gone - I pulled the spindle without removing the cups.

External bearing - My main road commuter has probably 20K miles on a 105 HTII BB and 6603 Ultegra crank. Still fine. Maybe it creaks, between wind noise and hearing loss I don't hear it, but it spins smooth.

In general when I'm rehabbing a vintage bike for someone or flip, if the C & C is suspect in any way I'll drop in a UN55. Cheap and I'd be shocked if the new owner would ever service the C & C

Any BB will give you good long service or will fail prematurely. Rider, riding conditions, service (or not) will all be different for every bike.
dedhed is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 11:32 AM
  #30  
Synack42
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Michigan
Posts: 93
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Liked 46 Times in 17 Posts
Thanks everyone. I've got 30 miles on it since redoing it and it seems to be doing well. Also noticed more noises afterwards, needed to regrease the sleeve bearing in the rear derailleur jockey wheels. I finally have smooth silence!

I've basically got a small fleet of cheap beater bikes that I'm learning to wrench on. One of them came stock with a sealed cartridge and the sheer end user laziness aspect of it really appealed to me. ;-) If the cup and cone gets rough again on this one I'll probably hang onto the parts and swap in a cartridge just for giggles and comparison. Might even get crazy and swap out the crankset completely, just for fun...
Synack42 is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 04:54 PM
  #31  
cyccommute 
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...and I have replaced (or in the case pf Phil Wood BB's, sent off for rebuild) any number of them due to failure/roughness in the spin. This includes (but is not limited to) at least one of the old Mavic units that was installed with a special chamfering tool, and numerous Shimano units that were apparently the victims of poor quality control, because they failed early in their service life. I know it's difficult to believe stories you hear on the internet, versus your own studied opinion based on personal experience, but I'm not making this up.
I think someone just said "Your anecdotes are not my anecdotes." I don't know what you (and others) do to bottom brackets to have such a low opinion of sealed units but I can only go on my own "considerable" experience. I've owned 38 bikes (so far). Of those 38 bikes, 6 or 7 had loose bearing and the rest have had some kind of cartridge bearing unit...many with multiple cartridge units due to a severe case of upgradeitis. My wife has owned 10 or 15 bikes and my children have owned a similar number. Most of theirs have been cartridge bearing, however and they have been on the bikes for longer (I don't upgrade theirs as often). The single worst offender for bad loose bearing bottom brackets was my first mountain bike which, to be fair, saw worse conditions than any other bike I've used.

That said, of the remaining 31 or 32 bikes, there has not been a single failure of cartridge bearings no matter what duty I've put the bike to. Some even have mid90s ISIS bottom brackets which were supposed to be the worst of the worst. One of them has about 10,000 miles of trouble free loaded touring on it. Another one is doing duty on one of my current mountain bikes.


Originally Posted by 3alarmer
I certainly use sealed units. They're nice because they simplify swapping out crank spindles....all you need to worry about is length, spindle taper, and threading in selecting the new one. I love them for that reason alone. But you're wrong on the average user's requirements in terms of service intervals on an older cup and cone unit, and you have some mistaken notions about the range of quality available and failure rates in sealed units. (Based on my own experience...which is not insignificant.)
It's been a while since I've had a loose bearing bottom bracket but the recommended interval back in the day was about 6 months. It's similar to the recommended interval for loose bearing hubs and headsets. Of course they can go longer but you risk damage to the bearing surfaces.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 05:40 PM
  #32  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26250 Post(s)
Liked 10,231 Times in 7,100 Posts
...*sigh*.
3alarmer is offline  
Old 07-19-19, 11:38 PM
  #33  
Bike Gremlin
Mostly harmless ™
 
Bike Gremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Novi Sad
Posts: 4,424

Bikes: Heavy, with friction shifters

Mentioned: 21 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1105 Post(s)
Liked 213 Times in 127 Posts
Originally Posted by cyccommute
It's been a while since I've had a loose bearing bottom bracket but the recommended interval back in the day was about 6 months. It's similar to the recommended interval for loose bearing hubs and headsets. Of course they can go longer but you risk damage to the bearing surfaces.
Not disputing this, just checking, especially for hubs:

Once a year service has worked fine for me - though I ride whole year long.

Not too much off-road, but lots of water, road dirt spraying, dust...

Perhaps it depends on riding conditions, but in my experience, once a year is quite fine, 6 months being probably an overkill (though it surely depends on the mileage and riding conditions).
Bike Gremlin is offline  
Old 07-20-19, 01:00 AM
  #34  
operator
cab horn
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Toronto
Posts: 28,353

Bikes: 1987 Bianchi Campione

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 42 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 25 Times in 18 Posts
The problem with rebiuldable and adjustable BB's is that they have to be rebuilt and adjusted.

Shimano sealed cartridge bb's last so frigging long it makes almost no sense to run a loose ball bb unless you're doing a resto or for really specialty applications.
operator is offline  
Old 07-20-19, 08:32 AM
  #35  
cyccommute 
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by operator
The problem with rebiuldable and adjustable BB's is that they have to be rebuilt and adjusted.

Shimano sealed cartridge bb's last so frigging long it makes almost no sense to run a loose ball bb unless you're doing a resto or for really specialty applications.
I know, right? I have a box of spindles and loose bearing bottom brackets and a box of cartridge bearing BBs at my co-op. I can go and pick a spindle at random and it will likely be pitted...some worse than others. I can go and pick a cartridge bearing BB at random and it will be just fine.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-20-19, 08:42 AM
  #36  
Cyclist0108
Occam's Rotor
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,248
Mentioned: 61 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2366 Post(s)
Liked 2,331 Times in 1,164 Posts
Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...who rebuilds their cup and cone BB every year ? That's just OCD foolishness.
I tried the malignant neglect approach. Didn't touch it between 1987 and 2015, and when I finally did, there was nothing wrong with it.
Cyclist0108 is offline  
Likes For Cyclist0108:
Old 07-20-19, 03:14 PM
  #37  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26250 Post(s)
Liked 10,231 Times in 7,100 Posts
Originally Posted by operator
The problem with rebiuldable and adjustable BB's is that they have to be rebuilt and adjusted.

Shimano sealed cartridge bb's last so frigging long it makes almost no sense to run a loose ball bb unless you're doing a resto or for really specialty applications.
Originally Posted by operator
Triple cranks are obsolete for a reason.

Zero purpose for them now that we have wide range rear cassettes and a billion 2x and 1x drivetrains.

Why do you think MTBs are pretty much devoid of triples?

Because they suck, are irrelevant and are useless.
...at the risk of repeating myself:

Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...you have been missed.
.............
3alarmer is offline  
Old 07-20-19, 03:17 PM
  #38  
3alarmer 
Friendship is Magic
 
3alarmer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,932

Bikes: old ones

Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26250 Post(s)
Liked 10,231 Times in 7,100 Posts
Originally Posted by cyccommute
I know, right? I have a box of spindles and loose bearing bottom brackets and a box of cartridge bearing BBs at my co-op. I can go and pick a spindle at random and it will likely be pitted...some worse than others. I can go and pick a cartridge bearing BB at random and it will be just fine.
...yeah. My co-op here saves a bunch of stuff that should have been thrown out long ago, too.
3alarmer is offline  
Old 07-20-19, 03:53 PM
  #39  
Kovkov
Full Member
 
Kovkov's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 390

Bikes: 1957 Alpa Special, 1963 Condor Delta, 1967 Tigra Sprint, 1977 Oltenia, 1987 Mondia, 1965 Staco de luxe, 1969 Amberg

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 117 Post(s)
Liked 76 Times in 43 Posts
Originally Posted by wgscott
I tried the malignant neglect approach. Didn't touch it between 1987 and 2015, and when I finally did, there was nothing wrong with it.
I have one that wasn‘t touched between 1956 and 2017. Same result.
Kovkov is offline  
Old 07-21-19, 04:34 PM
  #40  
davidad
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,660
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 582 Post(s)
Liked 171 Times in 138 Posts
If you don't mind occasional maintenance then keep it. The one I had I screwed up because the bike books didn't tell me about bearing preload. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/bb-adjust.html

I replaced that one with a shimano sq. taper cartridge. I bought into the Phil hype and used two of theirs. The bearings needed replacement too often so I went back to shimano. The two I have, have over 20k miles on them.
davidad is offline  
Old 07-22-19, 08:11 AM
  #41  
cyccommute 
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...yeah. My co-op here saves a bunch of stuff that should have been thrown out long ago, too.
On that we should be able to agree. Lots of volunteers who don't know anything about what they are doing and not enough people who do know what they are doing to supervise them.

That said, my point is that very few of the cartridge bottom brackets that get salvaged in my co-op are bad. The same cannot be said of the loose bearing bottom brackets. And it's not because we get fewer of the former and more of the latter or that people are more prone to throwing out cartridge BB.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-24-19, 10:18 AM
  #42  
Wilfred Laurier
Señor Member
 
Wilfred Laurier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 5,065
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 648 Post(s)
Liked 291 Times in 215 Posts
This discussion reminds me of a conversation I had with a more experienced co-worker at my first job, in a bike shop, in ~1991 or so. The fellow had a Trek 8700 (carbon tubes bonded to alu lugs) mountain bike and it was constantly out of service for one issue or another. This one time he was having a problem getting some part (I think) for his Bullseye hubs, and I asked why he didn't just get a Shimano hub. He went on and on about the drawbacks of Freehubs compared to Freewheels... I don't remember what any of his points were, but I know now that, while he had every right to prefer whatever design he wished, he was way off the mark. Perhaps he was technically correct about the things that were superior with freewheels, but the modern design is better on the road, if not on paper.
Wilfred Laurier is offline  
Old 07-24-19, 11:06 AM
  #43  
zebede
Hello
 
zebede's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Suncoast, Florida
Posts: 936

Bikes: n+1

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 110 Post(s)
Liked 29 Times in 25 Posts
Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...this is the original dream fantasy of sealed unit BB's. The reality has played out differently.
+1

The low cost and easily self maintained traditional bottom bracket, seems a natural choice for the bicyclist who is self reliant and seems to prefer inexpensive solutions to there needs.
zebede is offline  
Old 07-24-19, 11:12 AM
  #44  
Chesterton
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 197

Bikes: 1975 Raleigh Sports, Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier, Yuba Mundo, Raleigh Sports (1970)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 34 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times in 4 Posts
The cup and cone BB on my 1990 Schwinn road bike started knocking a bit and when I overhauled it the spindle was pitted. I got a replacement spindle from the community bike workshop for like $4, but finding one with identical length and taper type that wasn't also pitted was a tedious and rather filthy chore. And adjusting the BB was a little tedious as well (although I'm sure it gets easier the more often you do it).

Building up my new road bike and installing the cartridge BB was like: "That's it?? It just... screws in??"

I've been riding my roadster every day year round (including in heavy snow) for 8 years and the cartridge BB has never given me any problems. My only concern is that rust on the BB shell might make removing it difficult when that time does come!
Chesterton is offline  
Old 07-24-19, 03:37 PM
  #45  
cyccommute 
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by zebede
+1

The low cost and easily self maintained traditional bottom bracket, seems a natural choice for the bicyclist who is self reliant and seems to prefer inexpensive solutions to there needs.
Not buying it. A "natural choice" for the self reliant cyclist is the bottom bracket that requires the least amount of effort. Loose bearing bottom brackets don't fit that bill. They do need rebuilt relatively often and they aren't all that "low cost". A new spindle costs about $7. A new cartridge bearing bottom bracket costs as little as $10. If loose bearing bottom bracket is cheap, it won't have seals which necessitate more frequent rebuilding and replacement of spindles. And the constant removal for maintenance risks damage to other parts which may also need periodic replacement. Hook spanners are hard on lock rings.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-25-19, 03:50 AM
  #46  
Kovkov
Full Member
 
Kovkov's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Switzerland
Posts: 390

Bikes: 1957 Alpa Special, 1963 Condor Delta, 1967 Tigra Sprint, 1977 Oltenia, 1987 Mondia, 1965 Staco de luxe, 1969 Amberg

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 117 Post(s)
Liked 76 Times in 43 Posts
Shouldn't we express maintenance intervals in distance units (or even better revolutions)?
Kovkov is offline  
Old 07-25-19, 06:43 AM
  #47  
Phil_gretz
Zip tie Karen
 
Phil_gretz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Fair Oaks Ranch, TX
Posts: 7,006

Bikes: '13 Motobecane Fantom29 HT, '16 Motobecane Turino Pro Disc, '18 Velobuild VB-R-022, '21 Tsunami SNM-100

Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1465 Post(s)
Liked 1,542 Times in 806 Posts
I really enjoy a good quality loose cup and ball bottom bracket bearing set. But for ease of installation, the cartridge bearing wins. Loose requires more work.

The last two loose cup and ball BBs I've installed were on refurbishments. One on a Motobecane Grand Jubile, the other on a Fuji America. In each case, the final adjustment required me to re-do my work several times to get the right amount of pre-load/tension to eliminate play in the spindle without binding the cranks.

Especially since the action of tightening the lockring drives any slop in the adjustable cone outward as the ring presses on the side of the bb shell. I also find that there may be some "settling in" of the spindle and bearings after the first few hundred revolutions, because I wind up re-tightening after the shakedown rides. It's frustrating, but also pleasing once everything is finally right. Anyway, I ride all types: external bearing, cartridge, and loose. Each has its advantages.
Phil_gretz is offline  
Old 07-25-19, 04:36 PM
  #48  
noglider 
aka Tom Reingold
 
noglider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,691

Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem

Mentioned: 510 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7287 Post(s)
Liked 2,365 Times in 1,382 Posts
Originally Posted by Kovkov
Shouldn't we express maintenance intervals in distance units (or even better revolutions)?
Any unit you use is flawed. Perhaps hours of use would be best, but it's hard to keep track of.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog

“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author

Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
noglider is offline  
Old 07-25-19, 07:21 PM
  #49  
Cyclist0108
Occam's Rotor
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,248
Mentioned: 61 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2366 Post(s)
Liked 2,331 Times in 1,164 Posts
Originally Posted by zebede
+1

The low cost and easily self maintained traditional bottom bracket, seems a natural choice for the bicyclist who is self reliant and seems to prefer inexpensive solutions to there needs.
I just got fed up with my White Industries square taper bottom bracket, and ordered an $18 Shimano external BB and a GRX 46/30T crankset to stick in it. Five years from now, if I am still alive, when the $18 external BB needs replacing, I will get another $18 one, and look lovingly at my $120 boutique high-maintenance square taper noise-maker/torture device sitting in the spare parts bin.
Cyclist0108 is offline  
Old 07-25-19, 07:22 PM
  #50  
Cyclist0108
Occam's Rotor
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,248
Mentioned: 61 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2366 Post(s)
Liked 2,331 Times in 1,164 Posts
Originally Posted by noglider
Any unit you use is flawed. Perhaps hours of use would be best, but it's hard to keep track of.
Rotational furlongs per fortnight is the perfect unit.
Cyclist0108 is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
*Scuba
Singlespeed & Fixed Gear
7
04-17-18 03:43 AM
disco_kevin30
Bicycle Mechanics
7
08-31-16 07:31 AM
Chris Chicago
Bicycle Mechanics
15
12-16-12 07:23 PM
Dandankennedy
Bicycle Mechanics
1
09-23-11 08:28 AM
tawlly
Bicycle Mechanics
11
09-20-11 09:50 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.